Mounting adapter assembly

ABSTRACT

A wheel sleeve having a grinding wheel is securely mounted on a wheel spindle through a resilient collet member received in a tapered bore portion thereof such that wheel sleeve is accurately positioned at a right angle relative to the wheel spindle by a spacing collar having end surfaces which are perpendicular to the wheel spindle.

United States Patent Oishi et al. 5] Mar. 7, 1972 [54] MOUNTING ADAPTER ASSEMBLY [56] References Cited [72] Inventors: Kenzaburo Oishi; Osamu Toyozumi, both UMTED STATES PATENTS of Kariya, Japan 1,775,004 9/1930 Steiner ..5l/l68 Asslgnw Toyoda Kokl Kabushlki Keisha, y 2,476,234 7/1949 Balsiger ..5 l/l68 shi, Japan Primary Examiner-William R. Armstrong [22] Attorney-Oblon, Fisher & Spivak [21] Appl. No.: 62,538

[57] ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority Data A wheel sleeve having a grinding wheel is securely mounted on a wheel spindle through a resilient collet member received Aug. 12, Japan in a tapered bore p i h f such that wheel Sleeve is curately positioned at a right angle relative to the wheel spin- [52] US. Cl ..5 1/168, 51/169 dle by a Spacing collar having end Surfaces which are Pei-pew [51 1 (I B24, 41/00 dicular to the wheel spindle. [58] Field ofSearch ..51/l68, 169

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDMAR 1 m2 SHEET 2 [IF 3 S R 0 T N E v N ll KENZABURO OISHI OSAMU TOYOZUMI 0 M, Frlrlw Sh ATTORNEYS PATENTED 7 I973 SHEET 3 [1F 3 mv ENTOIRS KENZABURO OISHI OSAMU TOYOZUMI ATTORNEYS MOUNTING ADAPTER ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a multiple-wheel grinding machine and more particularly to a mounting adapter assembly utilized for securely mounting a plurality of grinding wheels on a common wheel spindle.

Mounting adapters for multiple-wheel grinding machines have in the past been generally of the key or the collet type.

In the key type, the mounting adapter securely holding the grinding wheel is supported on the wheel spindle in such a manner that a key groove formed thereon is drivingly engaged with a key secured in a key slot in the wheel spindle. However, utilizing the key-type adapter it is necessary to consider possible reduction in rigidity of the wheel spindle and extreme care must be exercised to prevent deformation caused in the machining operation and heat treatment. When mounting a key-type adapter, it is difficult to handle the heavy mounting adapter with the large grinding wheel attached to the wheel spindle such that alignment of the key groove on the mounting adapter with the key of the wheel spindle is a complex and laborious task.

Various problems are also encountered when utilizing the prior art type of mounting adapter of the collet type which has a radial slot milled thereon and a collet portion which consists of a plurality of slots axially formed on a'reduced cylindrical portion thereof. The collet portion is adapted to securely hold the mounting adapter on the wheel spindle in such a manner that the reduced portion thereof is tightened relative to the wheel spindle by means of a locking nut. During the tightening operation the side of the mounting adapter experiences some deformation. Deformation of the mounting adapter results in injury to the annular land which is formed on the wheel sleeve to support the side of the grinding wheel, such that the grinding wheel is also deformed resulting in reduction in grinding accuracy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a mounting adapter assembly for mounting a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle, comprising spacing means for providing surfaces perpendicular to the wheel spindle, a wheel sleeve supporting each grinding wheel on an annular land formed thereon in parallel with a reference end surface thereof which is abutted to the end surface of the spacing means and having a stepped bore having a conical surface formed on the enlarged portion thereof, a flange for clamping the grinding wheel to the wheel sleeve, a resilient collet member received in said enlarged portion and having an external conical surface in contact with the conical surface of the wheel sleeve, and clamping means for clamping the wheel sleeve on the wheel spindle through the resilient collet member.

Since the wheel sleeve of the present invention, which directly mounts the grinding wheel, does not include integrally fonned slots for the collet, the flatness of the annular land is not distorted by the clamping force when the wheel sleeve is secured on the wheel spindle. Therefore, the grinding wheel is accurately mounted on the wheel spindle by means of the resilient collet member which is received in the enlarged bore of the wheel spindle, without deformation and destruction of the grinding wheel which would otherwise occur as a result of uneveness of the thrust force exerted relative to the grinding wheel.

Since the end surface of the spacing collar renders the annular land of the wheel sleeve accurately at a right-angled relationship to the wheel spindle axis through contact with the reference end surface of the wheel sleeve, it is unnecessary to fit the reduced bore of the wheel sleeve on the wheel spindle in such a manner as to obtain the right-angled accuracy. Therefore, the wheel sleeve may include a bore which is relatively large in comparison with the diameter of the wheel spindle such that the wheel sleeve is readily mountable on the wheel spindle.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a mounting adapter assembly which may readily and accurately mount a grinding wheel on the wheel spindle of a multiplewheel grinding machine.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting adapter assembly which is clamped to a wheel spindle in such a manner that the wheel sleeve is accurately positioned at a right angle relative to the wheel spindle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting adapter assembly including unclamping means capable of thrusting out a resilient collet member to release a wheel sleeve from a wheel spindle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other objects of the present invention will become fully apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinally sectional view showing a mounting adapter assembly for a multiple wheel grinding machine, in which the mounting adapters 1a, 1b and 1c are shown in different angular positions in accordance with sections taken along the lines 1A, 1B and 1C of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 respectiveb;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line 11-" of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line Ill-Ill of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view seen from along the arrow V of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partial view showing a pivotal connection as seen from viewing FIG. 4 along the direction shown by arrow VI; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters are used to designate the same parts in the several views, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 3, reference characters 1a, 1b and 1c indicate mounting adapters, each of which is of the same construction although illustrated in different angular positions. Each mounting adapter includes a wheel sleeve 10, a flange 11, a collet member 12, adjustable weights 13a and 13b, securing bolts 144 through 14f, clamping bolts 15a through 15f and unclamping bolts 16a through 16].

A grinding wheel 9 is mounted on the reduced cylindrical portion 17 of the wheel sleeve 10 and is clamped between a pair of annular lands l8 and 19 of the flange 11 and the wheel sleeve 10 by securing bolts through 14f thereby restraining the grinding wheel against rotation relative to the wheel sleeve 10. The right end portion of the wheel sleeve 10 adjacent the reduced cylindrical portion 17 is splined so as to be in complementary engagement with the flange 11 which has a splined bore. Reference end surfaces 20 and 21 of the wheel sleeve 10 are formed in accurate parallel relationship with the annular land 19. On the reference end surface 20 is provided a circumferential groove 22 in which adjustable weights 13a and 13b are very securely held in place in a well-known manner wherein the adjustable weight is outwardly expanded relative to a center slot 13c thereof by means of bolts 23a and 23b. The weights are readily movable about groove 22 when balancing of the mounting adapter is necessary. Each of the mounting adapters la, 1b and 1c is balanced in accordance with the aforementioned manner prior to mounting on the spindle 8. The wheel sleeve 10 is provided with a stepped bore, one portion of which is a tapered bore 24 capable of receiving the collet member l2 and the other portion of which is a straight bore 25 capable of receiving the wheel spindle 8. The collet member 12, having an external tapered surface 26 for engaging the internal tapered surface of the wheel sleeve 10, is received between the spindle 8 and the tapered bore 24 for clamping the wheel sleeve 10 relative to the spindle 8.

As best shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of slots 27a through 27f are longitudinally formed alternately toward external and internal surfaces on the collet member 12 at regular intervals such that the collet member 12 is radially flexible. Clamping bolts 15a through 15f are loosely supported within apertures in the wheel sleeve and are in threaded engagement with the collet member 12 so as to draw the collet member 12 toward the reduced portion of the tapered bore 24. Therefore, the collet member 12 is moved rightwardly, as shown in FIG. I, to be compressed along the tapered bore 24 thereby to strengthen the fastening of the wheel sleeve 10 to the spindle 8 by means of the flexible nature of the collet.

Spacing collars 28a, 28b and 28c are supported on the wheel spindle 8 and serve to position the grinding wheels in the desired spaced relationship with each other. End surfaces 29a and 29b of the spacing collars are perpendicular to the spindle axis and accurately abut against the reference end surfaces 20 and 21 of the wheel sleeve 10 whereby the grinding wheel 9 is accurately supported perpendicular to the wheel spindle axis. The length of each spacing collar is defined in accordance with a predetermined value such that each grinding wheel may be axially positioned relative to a corresponding portion of the workpiece to be worked upon.

Numeral 30 in FIG. 1 indicates a stop ring as viewed in accordance with a sectional view taken along the line l-I of FIG. 4. A plurality of slots 30a through 30f are formed at regular intervals about the stop ring 30 for providing access for a suitable tool, e.g., L-shaped hexagon wrench key 31, to engage and rotate clamping bolts a through 15f during the clamping operation. The stop ring 30 has an end surface 32 which is perpendicular to the wheel spindle axis and a pair of radially opposed key slots 33 and 34 formed within the bore thereof. The key slots 33 and 34 receive keys 35 and 36 of cannon metal, or like material which are moved into binding engagement with the spindle 8 by a pair of threaded members 37 after all of the mounting adapters have been securely arranged on the wheel spindle 8. The stop ring 30 serves to restrain the mounting adapters from axial displacement once mounted on the spindle 8.

A clamping device 38 includes an upper link 38a having one end thereof pivotally connected to one end of a lower link 38b by a pin 39, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. The other end of the lower link 38b pivotally mounts a bolt 40 by means of a pin 44 engaged in a slot formed therein. The bolt 40 is received in a slot formed in the other end of the upper link 38a and is threadedly engaged with a nut 41 on a flange portion 42. Therefore, the clamping device 38 may be attached to the spindle 8 by the cooperation of bolt 40 and nut 41. The clamping device 38 threadedly mounts a plurality of push bolts 43a, 43b and 430 which are adapted to move the right side of the stop ring 30 in a leftward direction, as shown in FIG. 7.

The unclamping bolts 16a through 16f threadedly engage the wheel sleeve 10 and are adapted to thrust the collet member 12 outwardly toward the enlarged portion of the tapered bore 24 so as to release the wheel sleeve 10 from the spindle 8.

The procedure for mounting a plurality of spaced grinding wheels on the wheel spindle 8 by utilizing the mounting adapter of the preferred embodiment is described hereinafter. The grinding wheel 9 is fixedly mounted on the mounting adapter, and each mounting adapter is then balanced prior to being arranged on the wheel spindle 8. The spacing collar 28a is moved along the spindle from the right hand end to abut against the flange 45 of the wheel spindle 8. The collet member 12 is mounted on the wheel spindle 8 prior to the mounting adapter la being carried on the wheel spindle 8. The reference end surface of the wheel sleeve 10 is moved into contact with the end surface 29b of the spacing collar 28a. After each of the mounting adapters have been positioned on the wheel spindle 8, the stop ring 30 is brought into position with the slot portions 300 through 30f in opposed positions to the clamping bolts 15a through 15f which have been threadedly engaged with the collet member 12. The clamping device 38 is secured to the spindle adjacent to the stop ring 30 by the cooperation of the bolt 40 and the nut 41. The push bolts 43a, 43b and 43c are adjusted such that the mounting adapter 1a is accurately positioned perpendicular to the wheel spindle axis in abutting relationship with the end surface 1% of the spacing collar 28a.

Clamping bolts 15a through 15f are rotated by the hexagon wrench key 31 to fasten the mounting adapter la in place on the wheel spindle 8. After the mounting adapter la is securely held on the wheel spindle, the clamping device 38 and the stop ring 30 are removed from the wheel spindle 8. The abovementioned assembly steps are, in turn, rendered for each of the other mounting adapters. When the last mounting adapter has been secured by the clamping bolts to the wheel spindle 8, the screws 37 are rotated by suitable means to bring the key 36 into tight engagement with the wheel spindle 8 thus securing the stop ring 30 to the wheel spindle 8 for restraining the mounting adapters against axial displacement. The clamping device 38 is subsequently removed from the wheel spindle 8. After the mounting procedure is performed, the wheel spindle 8 with the stop ring, spacing collars and mounting adapters mounted thereon is rotatably supported on the wheel slide (not shown) of the multiple-wheel grinding machine.

Referring now to FIG. 7 wherein there is shown a second embodiment of the present invention, clamping bolts 15a through 15f are loosely mounted on the collet member 46 and are threadedly engaged with the wheel sleeve 47. In this embodiment the enlarged portion of the clamping bolt abuts a shoulder 48 formed within the bore of the collet member 46, such that the collet member is moved leftwardly by the clamping bolt. The mounting adapter can thus be fastened to the wheel spindle 8 through the collet member 46. In this embodiment, the unclamping bolts 16a through 16f are threadedly engaged with the resilient collet member 46 and abut against the shoulder 48 of the stepped bore when the wheel sleeve 47 is to be released from the wheel spindle 8.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be. practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle, comprising:

means for providing a surface perpendicular to said wheel spindle,

a wheel sleeve supporting said grinding wheel on an annular land formed thereon in parallel with a reference end surface thereof which is in abutment with said surface perpendicular to said wheel spindle,

said wheel sleeve having a stepped bore with a conical surface formed on the enlarged portion thereof,

a flange for clamping said grinding wheel to said wheel sleeve, a resilient collet member capable of being received in said enlarged portion and having an external conical surface compliment with the conical surface of said wheel sleeve, and

means for clamping said wheel sleeve on said wheel spindle through said resilient collet member.

2. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 1 in which:

said first named means comprises a plurality of spacing col lars supported on said wheel spindle for positioning said grinding wheels in a desired spaced relationship with each other.

3. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth inclaim 1 in which:

said clamping means comprises clamping bolts threadedly engaged with said resilient collet member for moving said collet member toward the reduced portion of said stepped bore.

4. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 1 in which:

said wheel sleeve further comprises unclamping means for thrusting out said resilient collet member toward the enlarged portion of said stepped bore when said wheel sleeve is to be released from said wheel spindle.

5. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 3 in which:

said unclamping means comprises a plurality of bolts threadedly engaged with said wheel sleeve.

6. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 1 in which:

said wheel sleeve further comprises adjustable weights securely held in a circumferential groove formed thereon.

7. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 1 in which:

said flange includes a splined bore engaged with a spline formed on the reduced cylindrical portion of said wheel sleeve.

8. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 1 in which:

said clamping means comprises clamping bolts threadedly engaged with said wheel sleeve for moving said collet member toward the reduced portion of said stepped bore.

9. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 7 further comprising:

unclamping means threadedly engaged with said resilient collet to move said resilient collet member toward the enlarged portion of said stepped bore when said wheel sleeve is to be released from said wheel spindle. 

1. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle, comprising: means foR providing a surface perpendicular to said wheel spindle, a wheel sleeve supporting said grinding wheel on an annular land formed thereon in parallel with a reference end surface thereof which is in abutment with said surface perpendicular to said wheel spindle, said wheel sleeve having a stepped bore with a conical surface formed on the enlarged portion thereof, a flange for clamping said grinding wheel to said wheel sleeve, a resilient collet member capable of being received in said enlarged portion and having an external conical surface compliment with the conical surface of said wheel sleeve, and means for clamping said wheel sleeve on said wheel spindle through said resilient collet member.
 2. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 1 in which: said first named means comprises a plurality of spacing collars supported on said wheel spindle for positioning said grinding wheels in a desired spaced relationship with each other.
 3. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 1 in which: said clamping means comprises clamping bolts threadedly engaged with said resilient collet member for moving said collet member toward the reduced portion of said stepped bore.
 4. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 1 in which: said wheel sleeve further comprises unclamping means for thrusting out said resilient collet member toward the enlarged portion of said stepped bore when said wheel sleeve is to be released from said wheel spindle.
 5. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 3 in which: said unclamping means comprises a plurality of bolts threadedly engaged with said wheel sleeve.
 6. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 1 in which: said wheel sleeve further comprises adjustable weights securely held in a circumferential groove formed thereon.
 7. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 1 in which: said flange includes a splined bore engaged with a spline formed on the reduced cylindrical portion of said wheel sleeve.
 8. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 1 in which: said clamping means comprises clamping bolts threadedly engaged with said wheel sleeve for moving said collet member toward the reduced portion of said stepped bore.
 9. A mounting adapter assembly adapted to mount a plurality of grinding wheels on a wheel spindle as set forth in claim 7 further comprising: unclamping means threadedly engaged with said resilient collet to move said resilient collet member toward the enlarged portion of said stepped bore when said wheel sleeve is to be released from said wheel spindle. 